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Why did Wales want to launch Wikitribune now?

It was US president Donald Trump’s counselor Kellyanne Conway who convinced the Wikipedia co-founder to launch a news platform.

Her controversial defence of fake news as “alternative facts” pushed Wales over the edge.

“Kellyanne Conway came out and said ‘alternative facts,’ and I was like ‘that’s it, game over, I’m done, I can’t put up with this.’ So that’s when I really started pushing forward, to say this really needs to happen — I need, for my personal feeling of values in the world, I need to be involved in trying to help with this problem,” Wales told Business Insider on Monday, when asked why he decided to launch Wikitribune.

Who will monitor the content?

While anybody can make changes to an article, all amendments will be subject to approval from a Wikitribune staff member or trusted community volunteer, according to the BBC.

“Wikitribune is news by the people and for the people,” said Wales. “This will be the first time that professional journalists and citizen journalists will work side-by-side as equals writing stories as they happen, editing them live as they develop and at all times backed by a community checking and re-checking all facts.”

Are any big names involved in the project?

Yes, the model and actress Lily Cole is listed as one of Wikitribune’s “advisers,” along with Guy Kawasaki, a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur worth $30m.

Will Wikitribune be a success?

Not everyone is pleased about Wikipedia’s initiative as a way to combat the rise of fake news, however.

So, Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia is setting up a website to combat fake news. Or you could read a newspaper.